Another Disgruntled US Olympian

We really need to screen these people better if they seek to represent the United States!

(Hint: They were playing our National Anthem for the Gold Medal Winner from the US)

Colin Kaepernick: You Have the Right to Remain Silent

A couple last points on the Kaepernick Kerfluffle before we relegate him and the NFL to the status of Hula Hoops, Lawn Darts and Pet Rocks in the ash heap of faddish entertainment.

For starters, it seems as though the knee jerk reaction of most of Kaepernick's defenders, was to make the straw man argument that he has the right of free speech in this country. This is most notable as an argument in search of a problem, since I have seen no one saying he did not. Examining his Seat Splinter Spectacular as a free speech issue, we note in passing the words of my dear sainted mother:

"There's a time and a place for everything!"

Location, location, location
We'll start with the old bromide about crowded theaters. You can't yell "Fire!" there. Well, actually you can, there are just certain consequences attached to it. If you falsely yell "Fire!" and someone is trampled to death in a stampede for the exits, you may spend the rest of your life shouting whatever you want in the Gray Bar Hotel. Or, you could go home, lock yourself in a bathroom and yell "Fire!" as much as you like, so long as it doesn't bother the neighbors, or the people you live with don't have you committed. (Admit It, Dude! That's pretty crazy!) Maybe you could try going into a crowded theater and shouting something innocuous like "Snickerdoodle!"? It won't get you arrested, but an usher may escort you from the building.

What have we learned so far? Yelling "Fire!" in your bathroom = free speech, in a theater = no free speech, and yelling anything at all in a theater could bring about unpleasant consequences.

Now if I felt really strong about this, I might take a couple of my redneck friends, we'll call them "Cletus" and "Chauncey", (we kinda have to, because those are their names!), and we'll wave signs and shout and stage a protest on the sidewalk in front of Kaepernick's house. Sidewalk protest = free speech. But then, if we take a walk up the driveway and say the exact same things, waving the same signs on his front porch...that's criminal trespass. Not free speech.

Speaking of "waves" if you do the wave in Arrowhead Stadium, you might get on the Jumbotron. If you try to start the wave at your local Presbyterian church, you may be in for a rude awakening. (But at least they'll pray for your soul!)

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient
 You have any number of times where you have the freedom to speak, but probably shouldn't.  You are free to walk into any biker bar in America and insult the biggest dude in the place and then insult his bike and his old lady... once! Once the police come to investigate your disappearance, the biker is free to tell them he beat you to a bloody pulp and buried you in the desert...but he probably won't.* (See headline) You see there's a principle involved: Just because you can doesn't mean you should.  You also have the right to tell your boss what you think of his ideas and if your wife or girlfriend "looks fat" in that dress.


Discretion is the better part of valor 
Consider the National Socialist Party of America, when they wanted to march through Skokie, Illinois, wearing their swastikas, marching through a village where one in six residents was either a Holocaust survivor or related to one. They, too had a constitutional right to free speech, but where they chose to exercise it was in incredibly poor taste.Ultimately, they ended up marching through Chicago instead. In retrospect, it's lucky they weren't shot.**

Or that group that claims to be a church that protests at the funerals of soldiers, holding signs that say things like "Thank God for dead soldiers". Would President Obama say that they are "starting a dialogue"? Does anyone dispute that they have the right to free speech in America, even though most good people find them and their practices repugnant?

Finally, a note on the character of what constitutes "speech". Personally, I disagree with the proposition that burning a flag is "speech". Speech consists of what you say, or what you write. Leaving aside the utter hypocrisy of those who say that global warming constitutes the biggest threat to the planet, yet see no problem in setting a cotton or polyester flag (or in extreme cases, SUVs) on fire, burning the flag is an action, an activity. I also believe that if we can redefine activity as speech, then the guy who punches the face of the person burning the flag is also "making a statement". But, I digress...

San Francisco, the football home of Colin Kaepernick, voted narrowly to ban public nudity a few years back, but many there and elsewhere across the country view nudity as a form of "free speech". My question for the NFL is:  If Mr. Kaepernick, or any of the other esteemed legal scholars which constitute NFL teams, decides to flip off the flag, burn the flag or drop trou and 'moon' the flag: Will that be a bridge too far? Maybe you could put together and focus group and see if that will stop the hemorrhaging of fans? Or not.



*Note to Tim Kaine: I am not inciting violence here, but using this as an example of what not to do

**Note to Tim Kaine: I am not inciting violence here, either, merely making note of the high numbers of shootings and firearm related deaths in the liberal Utopia of Chicago.

American Sniper and the UnAmerican Sniping of it

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to go online and watch Glo Zell interview President Obama, or see American Sniper. Wow! It was powerful and hard hitting! Man, that President Obama sure knows how to give an interview!

Get real! I saw American Sniper and I must say it exceeded my expectations. To do any sort of a decent movie review, I'd have to include a lot of spoilers, and I don't want to do that. I want you to see this movie and experience it as unbiased as possible the first time.

I knew the basic story before I went to see it, but the movie is gripping enough that even when you know how it will end, it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Much of the film is a character study of how Chris Kyle became the man he was, how he dealt with hardships, and relationships, and sorrow and loss. Also his struggle with the morality of taking a human life, even when it will save the lives of others. And what this does to a man's soul as he looks upon evil and does battle with it day after day. The film also deals with his wife, struggling to maintain her life and family in spite of a husband who deploys for months on end, and may not ever come home.

Some of it is a gritty, sometimes brutal, but realistic telling of what our soldiers endured in the Middle East and what their families endured at home. It is rated "R". It is definitely not a movie for children. The violence is at times quite graphic. The language is the language of fighting men, more fitting for the locker room than the parlor. I did not find it distracting. Some might.

The acting is top notch. Bradley Cooper could be a ringer for Kyle. The director, Clint Eastwood, knows how to get the maximum performance from his actors and how to capture that on film. When the credits rolled, I sat in my seat for a while, wiping away a few tears. It is a moving story about a real, down to earth guy. Not a super hero or super spy, but a real American hero.

As I sat there, I tried to picture how anyone could not be moved by this movie, even Leftist tubs of lard like Michael Moore. One thing that occurred to me, was that there was a lot of truth in this movie. Being confronted with truth may be so foreign to some that they are uncomfortable in its presence.

It was in no way a "propaganda" film. What did they propagandize? "Join the SEALS, go through brutal training, get shot at or blown up, and if you do make it home you ay be messed up psychologically, missing a few limbs and have you wife and kids leave you"? Great! Sign me up!

There is one message that Chris Kyle carried, and that was it was important for him to protect his country. That his country was worth defending and even worth dying for. That may have sent Leftist blowhards like Moore, if he ever even saw the film, into a catatonic state. (No, not California!)

Chris Kyle is the Alvin York of our time. If you are of age, you should see this movie. It is a well crafted piece of cinema, and leaving the theater, I was hard pressed to remember any movie I had ever seen that was better than this one or had greater emotional impact.

Still haven't.

If you faint at the sight of blood, don't see it. If violent movies give you bad dreams, don't see it. Wait 'til it comes on TV and they'll edit out some of the language and gorier parts. The rest of you, go to the theater and see it at least once. Soon. In addition to seeing a fine, well crafted movie based on the true story of an American hero, every dollar that it makes at the box office is a big...raspberry (kept it PG-13, didn't I?) to the leftist tools who are trying to discourage people from seeing it.

Vote with your wallets, America, for movies about true American heroes, and maybe Hollywood will finally take a hint about what the American public is longing to see.

Five stars out of five.

Thank a Vet Today!

The Stars and Stripes Forever

As performed by the United States Marine Band:

A Little Veteran's Day Music

The Star Spangled Banner

Not a traditional version, but one to get your juices flowing...

A Little Music for the Fourth

Lee Greenwood - America the Beautiful

"U.S. Flag 'Primes' Voters Toward Republican Viewpoints"

Just a glimpse at the American flag can sway voters, even Democrats, toward more Republican voting behavior, attitudes and beliefs, a new two-year study says.

The authors, from the University of Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, say the research proves the American flag has a powerful effect on voters.

"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting eight months," reads the study titled, "Long-Term Effects of U.S. Flag Exposure on Republicanism."

Can't say for certain that it's true, but it never hurts to display the symbol of our great country on every suitable occasion.

I've placed a small flag at the top of the sidebar. Let's turn the Internet red white and blue between now and 2012 November.

Leftists Boo National Anthem at Palin Rally

Way to show your patriotism, guys!



H/T Rob Port

Patriot Guard Shields Family of Fallen Marine

Over at Common Cents, there was this great video, too good not to share, about a group of bikers putting themselves between nutball activists who protest at funerals and the loved ones of the deceased.

More Video on "Flag Boy" Impromptu Parade

What an awesome gesture and show of support!

Video via The Last Tradition

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything, Lady Cincinnatus.

"Flag Boy" Gets Motorcycle Escort to School

 

Just saw this on the news. This was amazing! An impromptu Fourth of July like parade to the Denair Middle School this AM!

More at
Fox 40 KXTL

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything, Lady Cincinnatus.

Lt. Col Allen West's Stem Winding Speech

This is what they used to call a "stem winder". This speech should get you all wound up! We need men like Lt. Col. West in our Congress. STAT!

via The Other McCain
Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Lady Cincinnatus

Orson Welles: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

A fitting tribute for the Fourth...

via Doug Ross

The Pledge of Allegiance -Red Skelton

A perennial favorite.

The Last Verse of The Star Spangled Banner- Acapella

Smitty over at The Other McCain had this amazing piece of video posted:

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Cross posted at Lady Cincinnatus

And if you recognize Herman Cain, it might be from here.

Taps for Veterans

Chris Wallace interviewed Tom Day, the founder of Bugles Across America on Fox News Sunday today. Believing that having a live human being play Taps to show respect at the grave of the fallen, as opposed to a recording, Tom Day has made it his mission to make this happen.

From their website:

Bugles Across America, NFP was founded in 2000 by Tom Day, when Congress passed legislation stating Veterans had a right to at least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player. Bugles Across America was begun to take this a step further, and in recognition of the service these Veterans provided their country, we felt that every Veteran deserved a live rendition of taps played by a live Bugler. To this end, we are actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

According to his interview with Mike Wallace, Bugles Across America, even with all the contributions they receive, still falls short about $10,000 annually, which Tom Day makes up out of his own pocket.

Tom Day saw a need and sought to fill it.

http://buglesacrossamerica.org/

Cross posted at Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything

Mourn for the Fallen

Mourning usually consists of sorrow over our own losses. Memorial Day is the mourning over the loss of others, and our national loss of men of valor who laid down their lives for others.
And it is fitting for us to do so.

Picture via Woman Honor Thyself

Pic O' the Day

Compliments of The Troglopundit

The raising of the flag at Iwo Jima